Process of manufacturing hollow masts



(No Model.)

J. W. MANSFIELD.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING HOLLOW MASTS. No. 371,204.

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W I lNVENTOR ITNESSES W yfi Afro/my I I I 2 527-1171.,

W PETEHS M ND C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES W. MANSFIELD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING HOLLOW MASTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 371,204, dated October11, 1887.

" Appiration .ilcdApr-ilZB, 1887. Serial No. 236,387. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that 1, James W. MANsFIELD, a citizen of the United States,residing in Boston, in the county of Suffolk and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a certain newand useful Process for theManufacture of Hollow Masts, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact specification.

My invention consists of a process for manufacturing hollow masts forvessels, the details of which are hereinafter set forth.

Figure 1 is a representation of one of the shells or pieces of which themast is built. Fig. 2 shows the half-shells of the mast put together.Fig. 3 shows the method of coating with cloth. Fig. 4 represents themast with its outer coating of paper.

A A are the shells or pieces of the mast.

B is the cloth coating.

0 is the outer coating of paper.

I preferably make my mast in two similar parts out of two pieces ofwood, A A, which are cut the proper length and given the proper outsideshape. These pieces are then gouged I out to form a shell of any desiredthickness, as

shown in Fig. l. The average thickness, however, I preferably makethree-quarters of an inch.

The proportions of a mast thirty feet longsuch as I use for cat-boats orfor sloops-are as follows: the bottom five inches in diameter,

' middle section six to eight inches in diameter,

and the top four inches in diameter. Having thus prepared thehalf-shells of the mast, I first coat the same, both inside and out,with any suitable material to keep and protect them from the weather,and put the two parts together, as shown in Fig. 2. I next take a pieceof cloth or other suitable material, preferably coarse buckrarn orcanvas, of light weightsuch as is used by book-binders and is madeespecially for their business-and cut it into strips, 13, of about threeinchesin width. This cloth is then stretched in a dry condition on anysuitable machine, and afterward coated with glue and white lead while inthe act of winding it on the mast.

To wind on the cloth, I commence at the bottom of the mast, as shown inFig. 3, and wind spirally upward toward the top,where I turn andcontinue the winding to the bottom of the mast. This may be repeatedseveral times,

ing of the cloth I seldom make less than fortyfive degrees, and I varythe angle in accord ance with the amount of strain or twist which 'islikely to come upon the mast when in use,

the general rule being the greater the strain or twist to which it willbe subjected the greater should be the angle of the spiral. The cloth sowound upon the mast gives it great strength and firmness and prevents itfrom breaking under the severe strain to which it is subjected when inuse. After the cloth has been wound upon the mast, as described, I laythe mast aside to dry and harden. I then, when it is dry, cover it withpaper, O, preferably parchment or a fibrous paper wound over the cloth,not spirally, but straight around the mast in sections of about twentyor twenty-four inches in width, commencing preferably at the center ofthe mast and working to each end, the paper slightly overlapping at itsedges, as represented in Fig. 4. The paper is treated in nearly the samemanner as the cloth, with the exception that I first dampen the strip ofpaper, and afterward dry it between rolls or under a pressure of felt.During the occupation of winding, the paper is treated like the clothwith the same preparation of glue and white lead. After this the mast isput aside to dry, and, lastly, I coat it with a water-proof varnish.\rVhen this is dry, the mast is ready for use. I have found in myexperience that it is better to form the shell of the hollow'mast' bygouging it out than by boring. The coating of white lead and glue Ipreferably make in the proportion of four parts (by weight) of glue toone part of white lead.

A mast made in accordance with my process has among its other qualitiesthat of durability and strength, and is especially adaptedto boats wheregreat strength is desirable in the mast.

What I claim is-- 1. The herein-described process of making a hollowmast, consisting of first winding the shell of the mast with a spiralcoating of cloth, and then winding over the cloth a coating ofpaper,and,lastly,coating the whole with waterwith water-proof varnish,substantially as de- IO proof varnish, all substantially as described.scribed.

2. The herein-described process of making In witness whereof I havehereunto set my a hollow mast, consisting of first winding the hand.

5 shell of the mast with a spiral coating of cloth treated with acompound of white lead and glue, and then winding over the cloth acoating of paper treated with a compound of white lead and glue, and,lastly, coating the whole JAMES W. MANSFIELD.

Witnesses WM. B. H. DOWSE, ALBERT E; LEAOH.

